Soares, Cuomo Probe; Mondello FOILs

Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asked Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s office for information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s use of state aircraft, Spitzer’s office confirmed.

Rising to the defense of the embattled Brunswick Republican, state GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello filed his own Freedom of Information Law requests for Spitzer’s travel on 14 days between January and June.

While the Times Union’s story on Sunday dealt with Bruno’s use of a state helicopter and State Police driver to get to political events on at least three occasions, Mondello cited “published reports indicating that Governor Eliot Spitzer utilized taxpayer funded state vehicles to attend fundraisers and political events.”Â

Spitzer’s travel, according to his itineraries, includedÂ little overt political activity, but Mondello suggests that the “administration has been blurring the line between taxpayer funded government duties and partisan political activities” as he goes around the state bashing the Senate GOP majority.

The FOILs included one to Spitzer’s office and antoehr to State Police. Copies of both here.